Chinese Brush Painting - Introduction

All images © 1997 by Jerry Cullingford. The background image is my name translated into Chinese.

Traditionally, ink for Chinese Brush painting comes in sticks, made from black carbon (from burning oil or wood) and a glue binder. Inksticks come in many types - the best quality are usually marked 101, with lower grades being marked as 105 or 107. You can also get highly decorated inksticks.

To produce usable ink, an inkstone (usually made from slate) is used to grind the inkstick in a little water, to produce a thick black ink which can then be diluted to produce various shades of grey. The grinding process can take some time, so for the impatient you can also obtain bottled liquid ink.

You can paint using ink alone, or use colours as well. The colours used for Chinese brush painting are different from normal water colours - they have more binder so they are less likely to run when wetted - as when painted over, or the picture is being mounted. You can also use Japanese teppachi colours, as sold by Inscribe in the UK (boxed colours at the bottom of the picture). Chinese colours are usually sold as chips or powders from specialist shops.

Chip colours need wetting slightly to get them to stick to a dish. They are mainly vegetable in origin. Rattan Yellow (previous picture, on the left) comes in big chunks which need to be soaked for a few hours to make the base soft enough to squash onto the dish.

Some colours, such as the mineral greens (malachite) and mineral blues (azurite) come as a powder in small paper packets. This pigment is basically just powdered rock, and needs mixing with a binder before use. Most of the traditional colours are potentially toxic, so don't lick your brushes!

You can use a variety of palettes for mixing the colours. Many are made from porcelain, and some have lids, or can be stacked, to help keep the contents from drying out.

Most Chinese brushes are made from animal hair glued into a bamboo handle. New brushes are stiffened with glue or size and often come with a bamboo or plastic cap to protect the bristles. The bristles must be soaked before use to remove the size. Once they have been soaked, the brushes usually swell, and you should discard the caps - if you try to replace the cap you will probably damage the bristles. Most brushes come with hanging loops at the end of the handle, so that they can be hung with the bristles downwards. This allows the brush to dry without the water affecting the glue that holds the bristles into the handle.

There are two main types of brushes - hard brushes, typically made from brown wolf hair, and soft brushes, typically made from white goat hair. You can also get several specialised types of brushes for particular tasks. Chinese brushes tend to be larger than typical european watercolour brushes; one reason for this is that the brushes can be loaded with several colours at the same time, (usually with darker colours towards the tip of the brush), so that leaves or petals may be painted in a single stroke while producing a blend of colours, by using the side of the brush instead of just the tip.

All images © 1997 by Jerry Cullingford. The background image is my name translated into Chinese.
	Traditionally, ink for Chinese Brush painting comes in sticks, made from black carbon (from burning oil or wood) and a glue binder. Inksticks come in many types - the best quality are usually marked 101, with lower grades being marked as 105 or 107. You can also get highly decorated inksticks.
	To produce usable ink, an inkstone (usually made from slate) is used to grind the inkstick in a little water, to produce a thick black ink which can then be diluted to produce various shades of grey. The grinding process can take some time, so for the impatient you can also obtain bottled liquid ink.
	You can paint using ink alone, or use colours as well. The colours used for Chinese brush painting are different from normal water colours - they have more binder so they are less likely to run when wetted - as when painted over, or the picture is being mounted. You can also use Japanese teppachi colours, as sold by Inscribe in the UK (boxed colours at the bottom of the picture). Chinese colours are usually sold as chips or powders from specialist shops.
	Chip colours need wetting slightly to get them to stick to a dish. They are mainly vegetable in origin. Rattan Yellow (previous picture, on the left) comes in big chunks which need to be soaked for a few hours to make the base soft enough to squash onto the dish.
	Some colours, such as the mineral greens (malachite) and mineral blues (azurite) come as a powder in small paper packets. This pigment is basically just powdered rock, and needs mixing with a binder before use. Most of the traditional colours are potentially toxic, so don't lick your brushes!
	You can use a variety of palettes for mixing the colours. Many are made from porcelain, and some have lids, or can be stacked, to help keep the contents from drying out.
	Most Chinese brushes are made from animal hair glued into a bamboo handle. New brushes are stiffened with glue or size and often come with a bamboo or plastic cap to protect the bristles. The bristles must be soaked before use to remove the size. Once they have been soaked, the brushes usually swell, and you should discard the caps - if you try to replace the cap you will probably damage the bristles. Most brushes come with hanging loops at the end of the handle, so that they can be hung with the bristles downwards. This allows the brush to dry without the water affecting the glue that holds the bristles into the handle.
	There are two main types of brushes - hard brushes, typically made from brown wolf hair, and soft brushes, typically made from white goat hair. You can also get several specialised types of brushes for particular tasks. Chinese brushes tend to be larger than typical european watercolour brushes; one reason for this is that the brushes can be loaded with several colours at the same time, (usually with darker colours towards the tip of the brush), so that leaves or petals may be painted in a single stroke while producing a blend of colours, by using the side of the brush instead of just the tip.

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email: jc@selune.demon.co.uk